


A House is not a Home without You

by Aki (Akiko_Natsuko)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Home, Love, M/M, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 06:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17299787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Aki
Summary: The flat had always felt empty to Victor, little more than a place for him to eat and sleep, than to live, but tonight…tonight he finally felt like he belonged here, that it was something more. It felt like home for once, and he knew that the reason for that change, the reason he felt like he belonged was the man now snoring softly against his chest.





	A House is not a Home without You

   They were supposed to have arrived before the removal men, Yuuri had planned it down to the last detail, not trusting Viktor after his partner had managed to accidentally book them onto separate flights, two days apart, the last time they had gone back to Russia. Since this time was more long-term he had wanted everything to go perfect, which was probably why everything had gone to pot from the start. First, the original removal firm had cancelled last minute, leaving them scrambling to find someone who was willing to move the rather pitiful number of belongings from Japan to Russia with minimal warning.

    Then they had nearly missed the flight, the farewells in Hasetsu had lasted longer than intended, and the roads to the airport had been busy, and Victor had seen his partner inching closer and closer to panic each time he checked the time. They had made it, just…and even Victor had been stressed when they had finally collapsed onto the plane, but that had quickly been overwhelmed by his excitement as he realised that this was really happening. They had been talking about moving in together for months now, especially as they both spent most of their time in Russia anyway during the skating season, Victor was still working under Yakov, and Yuuri had said that it was easier for him to move so that Victor could remain as his coach. And now it was finally happening…

    Yuuri’s hand slipping into his brought his attention back to his partner, and when he looked at him, he could see the same excitement he was feeling reflected in Yuuri’s eyes. Ignoring the fact that they were in public, and partly because of that, because he loved the delicate pink that would slowly spread across Yuuri’s cheeks, he leant in to kiss him. Sure, enough when he had pulled back, Yuuri had been deliciously red in the face and flustered, but it was a sign of how far they had come and that he was adapting to Victor’s more forthright nature that he didn’t try to escape, instead tangling their fingers together as he leant back in the seat.

“Not long,” Yuuri murmured, a tinge of nervousness in his voice, and Victor squeezed his fingers. He had worried about dragging Yuuri away from his family and friends, from the life he had in Hasetsu, even though Yuuri had been welcomed with open arms when he had started training at the same rink as Victor and Yurio… well, open arms if you ignored the younger teen, who seemed determined to ignore the fact that the finals had changed something between them, not that Yuuri seemed to mind the aggression these days, having learned to handle it with a smile. However, Yuuri had insisted that he wanted to do this, and he had been redder than Victor had ever seen him when he had admitted that he would be happy as long as Victor was there.

Victor had been nearly as red after that.

    Still, while it had eased his worries, it hadn’t erased them, and he brought Yuuri’s hand up to press a kiss to the back of it. “Not long,” he agreed quietly, feeling the tremor that went through his partner and hastily continuing, wanting to give Yuuri something else to focus on. “I’m sure Makkachin is looking forward to having us home.” Knowing that they would be moving back, they had made the difficult choice to leave the poodle behind, and they had both missed him fiercely, and sure enough, those words drew a smile out of Yuuri.

    However, Victor had distracted himself with his own words. _Home._ He had lived in the small apartment for years now, but even with Makkachin there it had never really felt like home. He had never felt excited to be coming back after the end of a season, or a competition, and he had often found himself on the sofa, staring at the words and wishing for something more. Something that he had never been able to find, or even put a name to. And yet right now, sat next to Yuuri, with his partner’s things in boxes and en route to the apartment, he felt excited to be going home. It was a slightly overwhelming realisation, and he was relieved when Yuuri broke into his thoughts, laughing at his choice of words and adding teasingly. “Makkachin will probably break the door down when he realises it’s us.”

“Probably,” Victor agreed readily, smiling again.

_Home, they were going home._

***

    Their flight had been delayed, and by the time they had landed, Yuuri was fretting, twisting his hands together as he glanced at his watch. While they had allowed for some delays, this went beyond what had expected and when they had finally made it out of the airport it was to find both their phones flooded with missed calls and voicemail messages. Glancing at Yuuri, Victor could see that his anxiety was skyrocketing, and he reached out to rescue the phone from his partner’s crushing grip, letting one hand linger, squeezing Yuuri’s fingers.

“Easy Yuuri,” Victor soothed. “Everything will be fine, we’re here now, and everything else can be sorted.” He pointed out firmly, not allowing the slightest bit of doubt or worry to seep into his voice, waiting until he got a slow nod of agreement before releasing Yuuri. Knowing that Yuuri was still learning Russian, Victor took charge of ringing the removal company back, keeping an eye on Yuuri as he spoke to them. A few minutes later and he was hanging up the phone, hiding his frown as he turned to Yuuri who was looking anxious. “They’re there, but they’re going to wait for us.” It was like a weight had been lifted from his partner, his expression evening out as his shoulders slumped.

“Really?”

“Really,” Victor agreed with a small smile, deciding he would mention the extra charge tomorrow when Yuuri was calmer and less exhausted, besides in the grand scheme it didn’t matter. They were here, Yuuri’s stuff was here, and soon they would be at home with Makkachin again, this time for good and his smile was warmer as he added smugly. “I told you everything would be fine.” Yuuri rolled his eyes at his tone, but it saw the last of his tension disappearing and he nodded, willingly letting Victor pull him close and guide him down towards the taxis were parked.

*

   Their prediction was right, Makkachin was over the moon to see them, not caring that he was underfoot as he pranced around them, barking and jumping up, trying to get to both at the same time, unable to decide who he wanted more. Victor was glad for the exuberance as it stopped Yuuri from getting caught up in apologising to the removal men who had been looking less than happy when they had finally reached the flat, and it kept him distracted as Victor directed them to pile everything in the living room rather than the separate rooms as Yuuri had planned. He knew if that happened, there would be no stopping his partner from trying to unpack them all even though they were both hungry and desperately in need of an early night.

    Once all the boxes were in, he left Yuuri to look after Makkachin who had decided that Yuuri was his preferred companion for the moment, seeing the removal men out and letting out a huge sigh of relief when the door closed behind them. All he wanted now was to grab something quick to eat and then go to sleep.

He should have known that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

    They ate a hastily cooked microwave meal, glad that Yakov wasn’t here to see what they were eating, Makkachin practically in Yuuri’s lap the entire time. When they were done, Victor had cleaned up the few pots they had used, suggesting in passing that Yuuri should get ready for bed, but when he was done, he heard rustling in the living room and when he walked through it was to find Yuuri and Makkachin with their heads stuck in a box and rummaging around. “What are you doing?” He asked, already having a sinking feeling that he knew, which became a certainty when Yuuri glanced up at him with an incredulous expression.

“Unpacking, we can’t leave it like this.”

“Yes, we can,” Victor disagreed, sure it was hard to move around, but unless they were going to sleep in here it wasn’t a problem that needed dealing with tonight. It wasn’t even as though Yuuri had that much stuff, although his parents had seemed determined to make sure they had everything they could possibly need to set up a home, adding to what had been a truly pitiful pile when Yuuri had first packed. Still, it could wait, and as he saw Yuuri readying to continue, he moved across to stop him. “We’re going to go to bed and sleep,” Victor said sternly, knowing that if he didn’t intervene now then Yuuri would be here until the early hours of the morning trying to unpack, and he reached out to take his partner’s hand, squeezing softly to make sure that Yuuri was listening to him. “The boxes aren’t going anywhere, and we’re not due at the rink again until next week.”

“But…”

“If you take one step towards those boxes, I will sit on top of you,” Victor threatened, and silence fell, Yuuri freezing at his words and staring at him wide-eyed, Victor was taken aback by the fact that his words had stopped his partner. Although he had done it before, so Yuuri knew it wasn’t an empty threat.

    He wasn’t sure what response he had been expecting when the shock passed, but it wasn’t Yuuri breaking out in chuckles, the tension draining out of him and his fingers curling around Victor’s. Victor loved seeing Yuuri like this, breathless with laughter rather than nervousness, eyes bright and sparkling and he couldn’t help but lean in to kiss him, humming happily when Yuuri lent into it. “Does that mean I win?” He asked cautiously when they broke apart, and Yuuri snorted, but there was no trace of irritation as he nodded.

“Yes, you win…this time.” Victor knew that the last bit was added as a warning, but he didn’t mind, moving to wrap an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder, guiding him towards the bedroom with Makkachin prancing along beside them, sensing that the argument was over.

*

    He let Yuuri use the bathroom first, knowing that he needed to go to bed and sleep off the stress of the day and he kept half an ear out for him as he rooted through the wardrobe for his own nightclothes, not trusting Yuuri not to fall asleep on the toilet. It wouldn’t be the first time, the last being when Yuuri had been sneaking in extra practice, eventually giving himself away by falling asleep at the breakfast table and then in the bathroom, after supposedly having a full night’s sleep. He needn’t have worried this time because a few minutes later Yuuri stumbled out, bleary-eyed and yawning widely, and Victor shepherded him towards the bed, making sure that he was securely under the covers before he headed for the bathroom himself, ordering Makkachin to watch over Yuuri.

 “I won’t be long,” he called over his shoulder, earning a sleepy mumble that might have been agreement or something completely nonsensical, it was hard to tell, and he smiled, shaking his head as he disappeared into the other room.

    When Victor slipped back into the bedroom a few minutes later, he was unsurprised to find that Yuuri had already dozed off. It had been a long day for both, and he knew that Yuuri had been winding himself up about the move for weeks, so it was no wonder he had crashed after the chaos of today. Makkachin had been curled up against Yuuri’s legs, but noticing Victor, he lifted his head, his tail beginning to beat against the bed and Victor could see the bark coming, and he hastily pressed a finger to his lips. As much as Yuuri loved Makkachin, he doubted that he would appreciate being woken again so soon, and thankfully after a moment the poodle huffed and settled down, although his gaze never left Victor as he circled around to his side of the bed.

_His side of the bed…._

    It wasn’t a new thing certainly, and they had shared this bed before, but not like this. Not living together, and he paused for a moment, just savouring the sight of Yuuri curled up in their bed. His partner was currently cuddled against the pillows, but Victor knew that as soon as he got under the covers then Yuuri would latch onto him instead, sleep removing any inhibitions that he had he was awake. Victor would grumble about getting too hot, and having fingers and toes catching ticklish points, but he wouldn’t change it for the world, and he had made sure that Yuuri knew that. It was tempting to just keep watching Yuuri, to study the peaceful expression on his face and the way his lashes fluttered slightly as he shifted, reaching out blindly, knowing that Victor was supposed to be beside him.

    That was got him moving because he had never been able to deny Yuuri anything. He still wasn’t sure if his partner had worked that out, or if he was choosing not to abuse it…probably the latter, as Yuuri was a lot more observant than many people realised. Had it been anyone else, Victor might have worried, but he couldn’t imagine Yuuri every using that power in a bad.

  Careful not to disturb his bed-mates he pulled back the covers and slipped under them, feeling Makkachin shifting to curl between them as he pulled them back up. He had barely got comfortable, Makkachin moving to rest his head on his knees before Yuuri locked onto him with the accuracy of a homing device, warm arms slipping around him as Yuuri shifted closer, and Victor welcomed him, pulling him close and pressing a kiss to the dark hair. Peace settled once more, Makkachin beginning to snore softly, while Yuuri seemed perfectly content, leaning into his touch as Victor began to play with his hair.

    He was tired too, and Yuuri was a warm, soothing presence in his arms, but he found himself wanting to stay awake. Content to just lie there, listening to Yuuri’s steady breathing, with Makkachin’s snuffling providing a familiar background accompaniment. It felt like it had the first time they had slept together, all new and uncertain, his heart racing in his chest as Yuuri murmured something and pressed his face into his shoulder. _But why?_ His mind drifted to the thoughts he had on the plane, and as his gaze drifted around his room, taking in the empty shelves waiting to be filled, the wardrobe that already held a mix of their clothes and would soon hold more, he realised that was the difference. The flat had always felt empty, little more than a place for him to eat and sleep than to live, but tonight…tonight he finally felt like he belonged here, that it was something more.

   It felt like home for once, and he knew that the reason for that change, the reason he felt like he belonged was the man now snoring softly against his chest and his arms tightened protectively around Yuuri, kissing him again.

_Yuuri, we’re home._


End file.
